Wish list- What SAR^3 needs to expand our free services

Below is a list of items that we need to facilitate our research and teaching programs. Each item has a short justification so anyone interested in donating either the item or the money for it, will know what we will use the item for! The list is mostly in the order in which we need the equipment with the most pressing needs at the top.

Wish List:4 Omega LCCD-15K Load Cells, ~$750 each1 Omega LCCD-20K Load Cell, ~$1130We need load cells to measure both the static and dynamic forces placed on sport and rescue rope systems and components. Five are required to fully instrument a highline, and we need one for exceptionally high forces when we test the properties of doubled rope. Load cells are our biggest need presently.

Quick Release Shackles, $8-$25 (~$200 total)During much of our drop testing we have to lift a load, then release it from a distance. Quick release shackles work wonderfully for this application, but they are a bit pricy. We need to buy a bunch of them for different types of testing, so we will need a couple hundred dollars to buy all the shackles we will need.

White Board + Pens, ~$40We need money to purchase a small whiteboard and pens. We will use these to label our pictures and videos during testing. In addition when teaching having a whiteboard available would be invaluable!

Video Camera, Variable PricesWe perform a considerable amount of dynamic testing now, and most people want to see video of the tests. Unfortunately we are taking videos with our personal (cheap) point and shoot digital cameras. We could really use a decent digital video recorder. In addition to taking video of drop tests, we could record our conference talks and make them available on line as well.

Camera/Video Camera Tripod, Variable PricesRight now we have two short tripods (only a few inches high) that we use to position cameras during testing. It would be incredibly helpful to have a tripod that could get much higher so we could get video from different angles.

Rescue Randy, ~$1,200When drop testing we use static loads so we do not have to subject people to the hazards of drop testing (as the load). Having a static mass alters our results, so we would like to use a dynamic mass, a Rescue Randy, to make our testing more realistic.

Cordage Meter, ~$300A device used to measure the length of rope, cord, or webbing. It would be used to measure out sample lengths, rather than a tape measure. Owning one would improve our efficiency greatly!

Rope Slingshot, ~$200 (with all the accessories)This is a device used to shoot a pilot line to a location (often into a tree for arbory, or across a gorge for highlines) to facilitate further rigging. Having one available would speed up the time to rig complicated areas during trainings.

Books, Variable PricesAs part of our mission we are slowly buying as many rope related books as we can, then writing reviews for everyone. To facilitate this, we need money to buy books. Often we purchase used books for mere pennies, but sometimes we have to pay considerably more. So if you want to support our ongoing bibliography work, please donate to our book fund! Right now our book wish list is two pages long, and would cost us ~$3000 to buy outright today. So donations will be used quickly!